Stepping Back

There are some times that you need to take a step back from writing. This week and for the past three weeks, I have been a set designer/constructor/painter and have been putting in 7-13 hour days for at least six days a week. Today was tech weekend, which means that I needed to be in the theatre watching the musical from 8 to 10 with a small break in between.

So I was unable to write anything this week as we moved into the theatre and set up my massive set. However, I also have been struggling with not only writing, but being satisfied with my plot. So I am taking a break to reorganize Treeland and get it more intricate to my satisfaction.

With classes beginning and the musical performing this next week, I doubt I will have much time to write, but I will think. Plot has been always a weaker point of mine, at least I believe so, as opposed to characters and worldbuilding. But plot is vital. And so I will work on it this week.

Little Bits Add Up

Though I did not write every day this week, I did manage to write more than I did last week. Getting a habit of writing, no matter how small the daily word count, it will add up. 500 words one day, 100 words the next, but it will add up eventually, and soon, my average words per day will increase as well as writing becomes a habit once again.

My typing speed is quick, but my thinking and writing speed is slow still, so I hope that one day I will be able to write what I think quickly.

But no matter how little... it will eventually add up.

A Rough Start to the Resolutions

Recent events in my real life has stalled me in many of my resolutions, including the writing everyday one. Working as I have been, I come home to shower and read a little bit before I go to bed. I feel simply too exhausted physically to want to exhaust myself mentally. But considering the pace I have been working at, I am ahead of schedule and may be able to relax myself more to get in a bit more writing done.

I have finished Transformation by Carol Berg (for the third time) and love it as much as ever. I will continue on in reading Revelation (which I have read once before) and then the newly gotten Restoration for my next two books, I am sure. Chances are, after Restoration, I will be reading Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone, also by Carol Berg, as I finally got book one so that I could read book two.

Now I’m off to go write in Treeland!

A New Years Resolution

Here are my relevant resolutions that I aspire to keep for the year:

I will post at least one blog post per week.

I will write every day, even if it is only a word.

I will finish Treeland's draft zero and draft one this year.

I will prepare the next story's plot and worldbuilding for next year.

I will read one book at least one book every two weeks.

I will complete one short story a month.

Some things may seem low or simple, but low goals will allow me to make all of these become habits that can be increased slowly. Since I plan to post every Saturday, I will talk more in the next post.

College and NaNo--Day 1

Why have I been silent since over a month ago? I've been doing all the homework that I can in advance in preparation for NaNo. This meant I had to read the homework of October, November, and half of December and do all of the exercises. I had originally meant to get all of it done by Halloween, but working on two theatre shows during that time cut down on my ability to do it quite a bit. It was a tough October, reading at least two books during the weekend when I had large pieces of time to read.

But yesterday, realizing that fear, not homework, prevented me from beginning my NaNo, I started it. I still have the goal of 50K by the end of November, and 30K (hopefully) by the middle of December. Going at the pace I am now, I know I will have too long of a book and will need to pare it down, but this is draft 0. It isn't even draft 1. I am getting a feel for the characters, setting, and plot right now. I will have to do about 2400 words every day in order to reach the goal, but I am determined to finish this year. I am determined to show my writing friend Treeland with the majority (or hopefully all) of it done.

Treeland is Planted

That's right, I did it.

Three and a half pages deep, and Treeland is planted with its first plot. Now, I am an outliner. I also write quite a lot of description for my outlining. It's not just 'Character A goes to bar and meets Character B' as the chapter, but what really happens. I need to know what I want to go on, because it is much easier that way to keep track of what I want in the chapter.

I am still behind in the October Prep of NaNo that I am using, courtesy of Dawn Embers by two days, but I feel that I can pick it up quickly because I have worked with these characters before in an initial draft and plot that turned out not to be what I wanted. I know that I have left some plot points out, but for now, I am proud of myself. I know in the next few days I'm going to have to draft it again and expand and see what I really think of everything a few days after, but as long as I do not hate the plot suddenly during November, I am good. I am aiming to complete the novel in November, and I have a good feeling it will be going over 50K easily. But I would like to say that I finally have written a book, and that I did it in 30 days.

I am also doing it in secret. I have one writer friend who I am great friends with, and she does not know that I am doing Treeland now, as she's always been frustrated with me and not really being a true writer (since she has completed two novels already) and I would like to surprise her once I am done with it.

I think that would really be awesome. That is my goal.

New NaNo Idea -- Treeland

So, after attempting to make a plot for the short story, I decided to scrap the steampunk NaNo idea, as the plots were not doing it for me. It just didn't feel like they were good enough. My ideas usually come through some sort of idea or theme. Like time or dreams, for instance. So, I have fallen back onto one of my projects that will finally be pushed forward with NaNo to make a complete first draft. With that, I have figured out the plot, finally, to make some sort of complete sense. And I like it. And that is the most important thing. With this month of October getting ready to prep, and doing something on a day by day work schedule (once I catch up to today's date on that schedule), I believe I will have a fully fleshed out outline before I begin, and I believe that is just what I need.

I will name this NaNo novel "Treeland" here, to speak about how I am doing on it. Today, I am proud to have come up with a complete, basic outline. There are a few subplots that I have not worked into it yet, but perhaps they may not arise so quickly, and for now, I am liking the simplicity.